Quantic Dream is a studio known for its single-player narrative games, with their catalog including popular, award-winning titles such as Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain. The studio is now developing games outside of this mold, as shown by the studio’s continued development on the action-adventure game Star Wars Eclipse and the announcement of their upcoming multiplayer shooter game Spellcasters Chronicles.
Star Wars Eclipse was first announced in 2022, with the description of the cinematic review trailer describing the game as “an intricately branching action-adventure game” which takes place during the “High Republic era.” The description also notes that the player will be able to control the outcomes for various characters’ stories and their endings. Branching storylines, multiple playable characters, and the ability to influence said character’s ending appear to be reminiscent of the play-dependent, multi-character branching storyline in Quantic Dream’s Detroit Become Human. However, Star Wars Eclipse appears to be incorporating more action-based elements rather than focusing purely on the game’s narrative.
The game has not received any promotional material since its announcement in 2022, but Quantic Dream has confirmed that the game is still in development through a recent blog post. However, the state of Star Wars Eclipse was just a footnote. The post reveals that Quantic Dream has expanded their team, as “after years as a single-project studio, we also decided to take a new step. Multiple teams are fully dedicated to crafting the next generation of great games.” This next generation includes an upcoming “competitive multiplayer experience,” which the blog admits “may surprise our fans” due to its departure from the style of their previous games. However, the studio claims that such a risk “has always been part of our DNA.”
The “competitive multiplayer experience” referenced in the post is the upcoming free-to-play shooter game named Spellcasters Chronicles. The description of the reveal trailer describes it as containing “intense 3v3 action-strategy battles” in which players can summon monsters or cast spells to defeat their opponents. Based on the game’s website, players will be able to pick one of six currently existing characters, create a deck to suit their play-style, and summon hordes of creatures in battle.
Unlike Star Wars Eclipse, which retains many of the narrative elements emblematic of previous Quantic Dream games, Spellcasters Chronicles appears to have a very minimal emphasis on narrative. Instead, Spellcasters Chronicles is centered around PvP gameplay reminiscent of other titles like Overwatch or Marvel Rivals. This major departure is not currently resonating with fans, as almost all the comments on the reveal trailer express confusion or frustration at the game’s style. Whether or not the game’s release will change public perception remains to be seen.
The release dates for both Star Wars Eclipse and Spellcasters Chronicles are currently unknown, but the latter title has given players the ability to register as a closed beta tester.